Socialist Worker

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Child abuse scandal: the cover-up goes to the top

David Cameron has announced an investigation into allegations that senior Tories abused children during the 1970s and 1980s.

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International Comment Features Reviews What We Think Other

News

Rammed Lewisham meeting vows to save hospital from health cuts

Around 800 people turned out for a public meeting in Lewisham hospital on Thursday evening as the campaign against closures there gets off the ground.

Norwich unites against racism and fascism to send EDL packing

Around 2,000 protestors marched in Norwich against the fascist English Defence League (EDL) last Saturday in a fantastic display of multiculturalism and working class unity.

Tory party shaken by child abuse and cover-up accusations

Abuse victims have made damning allegations that a number of senior Tories abused children—and that the establishment covered it up.

Trade unionists organise to stop the Tories' cuts agenda

For those frustrated at the lack of national action by unions against austerity, the Unite the Resistance national conference is the place to be.

British arms sales to Gulf dictatorships could kill thousands

David Cameron is touring the Gulf to sell fighter jets and arms to his dictator friends.

Yorkshire hospital workers walk out against cuts to jobs and pay

Yorkshire hospital workers walk out against cuts to jobs and pay

King's Cross pickets demand a living wage and respect at work

Train Cleaners working for ISS struck on Friday and Saturday of last week. Some 80 cleaners joined lively pickets at King's Cross station in central London.

Reports round-up

Stop the presses in Yorkshire pay row Staff at Newsquest newspapers in Bradford and York are taking industrial action over pay.

Transport and delivery workers

Round two in DHL dispute DHL delivery drivers at the Neasden depot in north west London were set to strike on Friday of this week and the following Monday over pay and conditions. This second round of strikes follows a below-inflation pay offer.

British Museum workers walk out again over outsourcing

British Museum workers in London struck on Monday of this week against plans to outsource them to a private company. All unions at the museum, PCS, Unite, Prospect and FDA, took part.

Mystery death at Harmondsworth refugee detention centre

A refugee has died under mysterious circumstances at the privately run Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre near Heathrow airport. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has launched an investigation into the death.

Farm workers hold pay protest

Workers protested against plans to scrap the agricultural wages board (AWB) in London on Friday of last week. Farm workers in the Unite union gathered outside the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Marxism festival is a socialist success in Scotland

Marxism in Scotland was an invigorating day of discussion and debate. Some 150 socialists and activists from across Scotland attended the event on Saturday of last week.

Sacked Visteon car workers protest to demand their pensions

Former Ford-Visteon workers picketed Ford’s factories in Dagenham and Bridgend on Monday of this week. They are still demanding their pension.

Thousands march in Sidmouth over seaside sell-off plans

Some 4,000 people marched on the headquarters of East Devon District Council in Sidmouth last Saturday. They were protesting at council plans to sell off its offices and surrounding parkland for development.

Why civil service workers should vote no to the call centre offer

The delayed ballot of PCS union members in Department for Work and Pensions call centres is underway. Workers now have until 16 November to vote on a management offer in a dispute over working conditions.

School strikes can defend national workload action

Teachers at Stratford Academy in east London began a two-day strike on Tuesday of this week.

Health workers call march against south west pay cartel

The Unite union’s health branch in Bristol has called a demonstration on 1 December against moves to slash pay across the south west of England.

More embarrassing texts from David Cameron's editor chum

David Cameron faces fresh calls to release 150 unseen messages he shared with former News International boss Rebekah Brooks, and her colleagues.

Labour MP in expenses scam

Labour MP Denis MacShane announced he was resigning as an MP after a damning report from the Commons expenses watchdog found he wrongly claimed thousands of pounds.

News round-up

Setback for anti-choice Tory bigot Nadine Dorries has lost her latest battle to attack abortion rights.

Students set to march against cuts in London on 21 November

Students across Britain are gearing up to take to the streets of London on Wednesday 21 November against the coalition’s attack on education.

Inquiry hears evidence from the officer who shot Azelle Rodney

The public inquiry into the police shooting of Azelle Rodney heard from the officer who killed him on Tuesday of this week.

Anti-fascists oppose 'North West Infidels' in Liverpool

Around 80 anti-fascist protesters outnumbered 20 of the fascist North West Infidels (NWI) at short notice in Liverpool last Saturday.

More blacklist revelations as whistleblower speaks to MPs

The depth and scale of blacklisting in the construction industry is being revealed in evidence to a parliamentary select committee.

Firefighters' lobby sounds the alarm over cuts

Firefighters are warning that huge government cuts to the fire service will put lives at risk.

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International

Greek government under siege as workers take to the streets

The Greek government narrowly managed to pass its latest austerity measures on Wednesday in the face of a 48-hour general strike. Only 153 out of 300 MPs voted in favour of the measures.

South Africa's striking Amplats workers throw out latest offer

More than 30,000 striking miners at the Amplats platinum mine near Rustenberg in South Africa rejected the firm’s latest pay offer last Saturday.

Unease over Syrian National Initiative's links to the West

The launch of a new Syrian umbrella organisation to replace the discredited Syrian National Council (SNC) has created deep uncertainty inside the revolution.

New York after Sandy: Lights on in Wall Street while others suffer

Ordinary people can be extraordinary in a crisis. During a mammoth storm they can risk their own lives to pull others from harm’s way.

48 hour strike shakes Greece

Greece was gripped by a 48-hour general strike as Socialist Worker went to press, in an escalation of the growing strike movement.

Obama delivered nothing, and now he promises nothing

Romney lost. Good. I’m relieved. I’m American, and I could have voted for Obama. I didn't. But I’m still relieved.

Obama's re-election: myths and reality

"We are an American family and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people," said Barack Obama in his victory speech after winning his second term as US president.

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Comment

Strikes and struggle can split Greece's coalition of austerity

Less than five months into its term Greece’s coalition government is on the brink of collapse. It faces the biggest strike wave since the troika of the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Union first came to the country in 2010.

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Features

Yunus Bakhsh: The fighter who refused to go down

Psychiatric nurse Yunus Bakhsh was driven from his job of more than 20 years—and purged from the union he had tirelessly built. But with grassroots support from across the trade union movement he fought his persecutors all the way, making legal history as he went.

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Reviews

Reboot's freshness starts to fade with new Bond's third outing

The latest James Bond movie, Skyfall, celebrates 50 years of the films. Ian Fleming’s books introduced the character in the 1950s. They started from the premise that Bond is a killer—that’s all he does.

Reviews round-up

Why Poverty? film season The DOChouse is showing a series of documentary films Why Poverty? Two are showing on 15 November at the Rich Mix centre in east London.

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What We Think

Covering up abuse to maintain their system

Only weeks after the first revelations of horrific serial sexual abuse committed by Jimmy Savile, yet more child abuse scandals have come to light.

Media still peddle lies

The crisis of the top of British society is seeing sections of the establishment turn on each other.

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Other Categories

Terry Callier (1945-2012)

Few singers described the balance of creativity and despair that gripped the black ghettos of America during the early 1970s more sensitively than Terry Callier, who died last week.

Tim: A close-run thing

Tim's view

 

Letters

How protest stopped the EDL Here in Walthamstow our local Unite Against Fascism (UAF) group has been meeting monthly since 2008. We knew that sooner or later the racist English Defence League (EDL) would want to come and stir up hatred in our community.

Quotes from this week's news

‘Lefty tossers’

Cops get their snouts into a £23m trough of champagne

Being a cop isn’t without its perks. Businesses have showered the Metropolitan Police with almost £23 million worth of gifts over the past five years.

Eddie Stobart: the firm leading the way in attacks on lorry drivers

From children playing "Spot the Stobart Lorry" on motorway trips to the Channel 5 TV documentary, haulage company Eddie Stobart has a knack for having good PR.

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